Hi everybody... I just received a phone call today from a friend of mine. Basically what he explained to me was that he purchased something from Canadian Tire, took the item home , went back to the store picked up another one and returned it . This item was around $300 . The manager authorized the refund but soon discovered what was going on. My friend was able to leave the store , without being caught, but he said that he saw the manager of the store looking for him in the parking lot once he was inside the bus. They have his name because he had just returned something. What kind of problem is he looking at?

He is 20 years old , never had a record in his life. University student. Did this under peer pressure.

Any advice would be good

I am sure that by now the police have been notified and will be looking to arrest your friend for the theft.

The best thing he can do is turn himself in. If the police haven't come for him yet, he can go to the store and talk to the manager, but more than likely store policy will be followed and they will prosecute the theft.

He made a mistake. The best thing to do is accept responsibility for the mistake and take the lesson learned from it... and of course, never repeat it.

In Canada, it will be theft under 5000, and he will be notified most likely of a date and time to go in to be fingerprinted and have his photo taken.

He could try to go back to the store and pay the money back, ( he will have to anyway) but this way it shows he is sorry for this)
And he needs to stop being friends with people who have this type of peer pressure.

Assuming they prosecute, he most likely will have to pay back the money plus a fee, he will get a fine and most likely probation.

You see, he is saying that all they have on camera is him returning the item. But they don't have anything on camera showing him stealing?? What if the store manager was afraid of reporting the theft considering he could lose his job for allowing the refund to go through in the first place??

Would he get any jail time for this? Or even worse have a criminal record? He wants to be a banker.

I spoke to him , and he is afraid of going back to the store... he never wants to go back there. Ever.

Hiding from your mistakes will only make you a prisoner to them...